State Capitol Q&A: 'Doomsday' can still be averted

Ryan Keith

Monday

Jun 29, 2009 at 12:01 AMJun 29, 2009 at 5:10 AM

July 1 is almost here, and again there's a major debacle for state government's budget. Illinoisans are getting used to the scenario seemingly played out every year at the state Capitol. This week's State Capitol Q&A takes a closer look at what July's arrival means with the budget situation in limbo.

July 1 is almost here, and again there's a major debacle for state government's budget. Illinoisans are getting used to the scenario seemingly played out every year at the state Capitol.

The financial problems – and the political struggle to fix them – have never been so great.

But even with a huge hole and no spending plan in place, the start of July doesn't automatically signal a doomsday for government.

This week's State Capitol Q&A takes a closer look at what July's arrival means with the budget situation in limbo:

Q: What significance does July 1 have for the budget?

A: Essentially, it's just another day.

The first day of July is the start of the new budget year, which means if there's no budget there's no authority in place for state officials to spend money, with some exceptions detailed below. The state keeps collecting tax money.

Workers technically won't be paid until there's a new budget, but payroll checks aren't cut until July 15 for the first batch of workers. Comptroller Dan Hynes' office says sometime shortly before the 15th is when workers' checks would first be delayed, so that won't happen as long as there's a budget in place by then.

School payments aren't made until Aug. 10, Hynes' office says, so they don't have to worry about missing a check.

Gov. Pat Quinn ultimately will decide if there's a doomsday this week.

Q: What role does the governor play in this?

A: He's the key. If Quinn decides to play hardball, he could tell workers to stay home starting Wednesday – bringing government operations to their knees. His office isn't talking about those plans yet.

Quinn has threatened big spending cuts for both private-sector service providers and state workers if lawmakers send him a budget they've already voted for with a huge spending hole in it. The governor, though, has signaled he won't let that happen.

"I'm not going to accept that budget," Quinn said last week in Chicago. "I'm going to send it right back to the legislature, and we're going to sit there and we're going to get a full budget."

But if he accepts it and makes the cuts right away, or decides to start hacking if there's no budget in place, then doomsday could be imminent.

Q: Hasn't the state been down this road before?

A: Repeatedly the last few years.

In 2004 and 2007, lawmakers agreed to a one-month budget extension to get through July and came to budget deals by August. Last year, they passed a budget they knew had spending problems in late May and watched then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich cut parts of it and call them back to work to fix it.

But even in the most heated battles between Blagojevich and the legislature, state government shutdown wasn't a real possibility. Blagojevich made it clear employees should keep coming to work and would be paid in the end.

A Christian County judge in August 2007 ruled workers should get some pay until the budget standoff was resolved, forcing Hynes to write checks. The budget was finalized shortly after that.

Court rulings also require welfare checks to be sent out even without a budget, and pension payments have to go out as well.

Q: When will we know whether doomsday becomes a reality?

A: That could get clearer Tuesday. If lawmakers send the governor a budget he sees as workable or a temporary budget, then doomsday could be averted for a while. If they don't, he could say when and what he's cutting.

They could all decide to keep working toward a solution the rest of this week and beyond if needed. Then again, the situation could devolve into a standoff that continues the limbo for another few days or even weeks.

Lawmakers are urging patience as they work through the problem, and prodding Quinn not to make rash decisions.

"It's going to take a little while," said House Minority Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego. "We're not interested in harming people."

Ryan Keith can be reached at (217) 788-1518 or ryan.keith@sj-r.com.

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